Hey Reb! (sculpture)

Hey Reb! was a mascot for the UNLV Rebels, the athletic teams of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada, USA. He performed live at all UNLV athletic events. The mascot, Hey Reb!, was first created in 1983 to depict the embodiment of an independent, rebel spirit at UNLV athletic events, intended as a tribute to western settlers.

In the aftermath of the George Floyd protests, the statue of the mascot was removed due to concerns of racist symbolism, and the mascot itself was permanently retired for similar reasons, with no replacement mascot announced.

Previous mascots

UNLV's original mascot was a Confederate uniform-wearing wolf named Beauregard. Dressed in a grey uniform, Beauregard was a variation on the Confederate symbolic image of "Johnny Reb".

In the 1970s, as race discrimination issues dominated national events, community members voiced concerns that Beauregard glorified the Confederacy and had little to do with the community's history. In the early 1970s, students had voted to banish Beauregard but retained the Rebels name, rejecting alternatives such as Big Horn Rams, Nuggets, A-Bombs, and Sand Burners.

Replacing Beau was a musket-toting Minuteman, but that Revolutionary War figure failed to resonate in the West either. UNLV went without an official mascot for some time before Hey Reb was developed.

Design

Hey Reb was created as a replacement for Beauregard the wolf. Mike Miller, who was a partner in a local advertising firm and headed the UNLV account, first heard of the university's search for a fitting symbol in 1982 and offered to sketch some ideas. Miller brainstormed about the kind of character that could embody the spirit of a Rebel while representing the community's history, and drew inspiration from the mountain men of the 1800s.

Hey Reb is always seen wearing a UNLV jersey with the number 57 on it, to commemorate the University's founding in the year 1957. In 2004, Hey Reb was named one of 12 All-American Mascots, and was given a chance to compete for the Capital One Bowl mascot of the year as part of the Capital One Mascot Challenge, finishing second in the online voting. Hey Reb has also been featured in two national commercials for ESPN's ''SportsCenter''. In 2013, Hey Reb and Jon "Jersey" Goldman, the UNLV student who wears the costume to portray him, were featured in the Hulu documentary series ''Behind the Mask''. The series followed four mascots, and the people who portrayed them, both inside and outside of the mascot costume.

Criticism

The campus community was divided over the contention that the mascot still resembled a Confederate soldier and therefore appeared to be a symbol of racism. In 2015, Nevada Senator Harry Reid called for the design to be revisited again.

Statue removal and mascot retirement

On June 16, 2020, amidst protests of racial inequality related to the death of George Floyd, UNLV announced they had removed the Hey Reb! statue in front of the Tam Alumni Center, stating: "In recent conversations with the donor we mutually agreed it was best to remove the statue and return it." The University's president Marta Meana clarified the decision: "Over the past few months, I have had discussions with multiple individuals and stakeholder groups from campus and the community on how best the university can move forward given recent events throughout our nation".

The mascot itself was not used since the statue's removal and was later retired permanently on January 19, 2021 due to similar concerns as those that prompted the statue's removal. The university announced that it did not have plans to create a new mascot, and would still retain the Rebels name, comparing the mascot-less team with others such as the New York Giants.

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{{Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
2007 sculptures
Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests
Monuments and memorials in Nevada
Mountain West Conference mascots
Removed Confederate States of America monuments and memorials
Statues in Nevada
UNLV Rebels